Developmental changes in infant brain activity during naturalistic social experiences

Abstract

Between 6 and 12 months, typically developing infants undergo a socio-cognitive ‘revolution’. The Interactive Specialization (IS) theory of brain development predicts that these behavioral changes will be underpinned by developmental increases in the power and topographic extent of socially selective cortical responses. To test this hypothesis, we used EEG to examine developmental changes in cortical selectivity for ecologically valid dynamic social versus non-social stimuli in a large cohort of 6- and 12-month-old infants. Consistent with the Interactive Specialization model, results showed that differences in EEG theta activity between social and non-social stimuli became more pronounced and widespread with age. Differences in EEG activity were most clearly elicited by a live naturalistic interaction, suggesting that measuring brain activity in ecologically valid contexts is central to mapping social brain development in infancy.

Parental neural responsivity to infants’ visual attention: how mature brains scaffold immature brains during social interaction

“…For adults, a similar functional relationship was observed, but at a higher frequency (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) in the Alpha band, consistent with considerable previous research into the role of pre-stimulus Alpha activity in anticipatory visual attention ( [46,47]). Our infant findings are also consistent with previous research suggesting that Theta oscillations increase in during anticipatory and sustained attention ( [10]; [12,13]); but they are novel insofar as we demonstrated these effects during spontaneous attention in semi-naturalistic settings.…”

“…Theta band activity increases in infants during periods of anticipatory and sustained attention ( [11]); in 11-month-old infants, differences in Theta band oscillations predict differential subsequent object recognition during preferential looking ( [12]). Theta activity also increases in infants in social compared to non-social settings ( [13]) and is particularly marked in naturalistic settings ( [13]).…”

“…Based on previous research ( [10,13]) we expected that fluctuations in infant Theta activity would associate with, and forward-predict, fluctuations in infant attentiveness. Based on our previous research ( [25]) we predicted that the forward-predictive relationship between infants' own endogenous brain activity and infants' attentiveness would be higher during Solo Play than Joint Play, due to the increased prevalence of exogenous parental attention scaffolding (and capture) during Joint Play.…”

Human brain development over the early years

“…Using a similar fNIRS paradigm, infants around 5-month old show specialized responses to visual social stimuli, and a larger response in the posterior superior temporal sulcus to human vocal than non-vocal auditory stimuli [25,26]. Further, EEG spectral power shows widespread changes in the breadth and depth of brain activation to social versus non-social naturalistic stimuli between 6 and 12 months [27]. These observations are in line with the hypothesis suggesting relatively early, but experiencedependent, cortical specialization to social stimuli.…”

Theory of Mind: Towards an Evolutionary Theory

“…As children grow up, however, theta rhythms are gradually crowded out of the brain by other types of brainwaves (Orekhova et al 2006;Jones et al 2015). One of the last vestiges of theta rhythms in the adult organism is REM sleep.…”